In house buying limbo- advice?

stephaniesays

Hi there- I know this is probably a common issue but it’s driving me a bit mad, especially with Christmas looming over us.

situation in a nutshell: 
-we’re FTB living in rented accommodation- rented house has been sold now STC and I would expect a section 21 to be served imminently 
-Offer accepted on our purchase late May
- Memo of sale issued early June 
- we have done everything we need to do- mortgage offer, conveyancing, survey, queries etc- paperwork signed but not dated
- our mortgage offer expires in mid December 


I understand there’s delays with our vendors onward purchase. I have never been told what these delays are (not that it’s really my business) but also no one seems to have any idea when these may be resolved and I have zero idea of a timescale. I would just like to know if I need to start applying for a mortgage offer extension etc and if I need to start kicking up more of a fuss. Pretty much my only weapon is to threaten to pull out if we’re not in by x date but I don’t really want to do that unless it’s a last resort.

anyone share this experience and can you tell me how you handled it / if there’s anything I can do at all to put pressure on without going for the nuclear option? 

Brie

I had to get our mortgage offer reissued/reevaluated which was fairly simple (8 years back).  Ours was a complicated sale and we were being pressured by the estate agent to move out of our previous place but we just kept saying no.  Just about lost our buyers but thankfully things fell into place after about 9 months.

S21 takes time so don't worry too too much about that.  Once you get that check to see if the LL has done everything by the book.  If there's one thing missing (gas cert, deposit scheme etc) notify them on the last day of the S21.  They'll need to sort out whatever and then issue a new S21.  If there's more than one thing missing just tell them about one and save the next one for the next deadline.

gwynlas

You could aproach the EA for an update as they will be seeking their commission

Jemma01

I def would kick up a fuss, tell them your mortgage offer is about to expire and demand to understand what's causing the delay. You say it is none of your business, but if the hold is a probate or something that usually takes long, it might he that you're better off moving on, and you'd want transparency. Some house sales don't happen, sad but things happen and time wasters lurk around.